Friday, May 26, 2006

SF and Tuckerizing

I've talked about using fan names in my books. The idea comes from a thing known in the science fiction community called TUCKERIZING. A writer named Tucker started putting real people, his fans, in his books, and now a lot of writers are doing it.

The thing about it is...you have to be careful about it. As a writer, we don't want to get into trouble. You know that little disclaimer at the front of books, that any similarities to persons is purely coincidental?

Well, some fans like to see their names and descriptions in books. Some are very specific about the fact that they don't want to be seen in certain lights. For example, a virgin girl might not want to be put in as a hooker. But then again, she might like the joke of a girl in a book with her name and description being SO obviously different. Who can tell? Only you can say if you want to be tuckerized and if so, how you want to be immortalized.

I met a guy who was a weapons expert--for real. He said, "Use my name. I love it. But only as a weapons expert." Then he went on to say he'd advised me on the book, in weapons, if I needed it. That was cool of him.

Another guy said, "Put me anywhere. I like to be the bum on the corner that sees everything. Or the drunk in the alley that's in the back of every scene."

No. I'm not kidding ya.

Mostly, I look for pretty names, and people with striking things about their looks or personalities and try to honor that in my character creation.

But my characters come alive--and may not stay true to the original model. So, I stay away from using first and last names.

Now, I'm off to CONquest 37--a science fiction convention held at the airport Hilton in Kansas City this weekend. Swing in!